The separation of hydrogen and carbon monoxide from mixtures containing reactive unsaturates, such as olefinic and or aromatic hydrocarbons, or mixtures containing light olefinic hydrocarbons such as ethylene, propylene, or other C.sub.2 -C.sub.4 olefins, is a costly, but often necessary, operation because hydrogen and carbon monoxide are contaminants, or poisons for many downstream processes, such as polyethylene and polypropylene manufacturing.
The existing technology for separating hydrogen and carbon monoxide from reactive unsaturated hydrocarbons calls for cryogenic distillation which requires expensive equipment and high energy consumption. Other techniques, such as membrane, and absorption and adsorption are used only for separation of hydrogen from other components, and these techniques are effective only when the system pressure is high; generally greater than 100 psi.
The reason that hydrogen and carbon monoxide are so difficult to separate from mixtures containing light olefins is that the physical properties of the contaminants, hydrogen and carbon monoxide, are very similar to the light olefins in the mixture that they are to be separated from.
For example, carbon monoxide and ethylene, are similar in terms of molecular dimension and bonding characteristics; which makes physical separation very difficult.
Accordingly, there exists a need for an improved process for the selective separation of hydrogen and carbon monoxide from mixtures of these gases with reactive unsaturated hydrocarbons, such as light olefinic hydrocarbons, without significant loss of the valuable olefins via side reactions.